Should I Remove Big Leaves To Maximize Light

You learn as you go and get better. The thicker the stem on the clone cutting the longer it takes to root. I`ve had tops that had pretty thick stems that to about 2 weeks to root when a normal clone cutting takes about 7-10 days on average.
</blockquote>
Awesome timing bro... haha I just made some cuttings day or two ago and I've been expecting the roots to show within 3-5 days but now I'll know how long to expect them to be! And some cuttings do have thick stems so they'll take a little more time?

THTstonedGUY

 

I've removed three large fan leaves that were noticeably blocking bud sites trying to poke through. I bend and tuck when I can.  All have done well for me. Defoliation is one of the most two sided arguments I've seen in the cannabis world. Honestly, I believe that when you
know your grow... defoliation is a key to high yields. I absolutely cannot say that from experience though. Only what I've read and the few leaves I've clipped.

 

It seems like leaves = solar panels, but in my humble experience, you should remove as many leaves as possible, for a number of reasons. This should also be done during the later part of the veg cycle, and then again midway through flowering (when I also remove the smallest bud sites on the bottom third of the plant). What I've seen is that if you have a dense canopy, and you defoliate the hell out of it, it will fill back in those empty spaces in a matter of days. When the lights go out, the humidity typically rises as well, and the less dense the foliage, the less likely there will be water trapped between touching leaves, and less chance of mold. It looks insane when I fist de-leaf my seedlings. I do it when they are about four nodes high. I top the plants, and then remove the main fan leaves, leaving just the stalk and the internodes. Within a week those internodes have all turned into heads, which will be equal sized colas (I aim for three internodes, six colas per three foot plant). The best thing you can do is run plants side by side with different techniques. Defoliate one group, don't defoliate the other, see which works better.